Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Oakland City Council to vote Tuesday on extending ENA for Coliseum development

OAKLAND CITY COUNCIL | Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and leaders of the City Council expressed support for extending an exclusive negotiation agreement with the current group interested in building new stadiums for the Raiders and Athletics in Oakland. The ENA is slated to expire at the end of this month.

Including in the agenda item to be voted by the Oakland City Council in closed session Tuesday evening is a clause allowing the city to allow any competing proposal brought forth by the owners of the Raiders and Athletics.

“I’m excited that, for the first time, both the Oakland Athletics and Oakland Raiders have expressed interest in coming to the table to join these serious discussions and that the City and County are poised to move forward together," Schaaf said in a statement released by the city. "This new approach represents real progress in crafting a project that protects the public dollar, retains our sports teams, and increases the economic vitality of the coliseum area.”

In the same statement, Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley, who also serves as chair of the Coliseum Joint Powers Authority, which oversees the publicly-owned stadium complex, applauded extending the ENA and its new parameters. “We’ll be doing our due diligence, but I’m optimistic that the City and County will start moving forward as a unified team after our January 27th action,” said Miley.

If approved by the Oakland City Council, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors will discuss the extension at its next meeting on Jan. 27.

The proposed 90-day extension with development group New City, headed by Southern California businessman Floyd Kephart, comes at a critical moment. Recent reports suggest the Raiders will seek a one-year lease extension to play at O.co Coliseum for another year.